


Nightmares Will Not Stay

by Peribow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith is anxious, M/M, The Anxious Bois™, klance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, lance is anxious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 04:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11638773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peribow/pseuds/Peribow
Summary: Lance walks around at night because he can't sleep. One night, Keith's there too.





	Nightmares Will Not Stay

**Author's Note:**

> GRACE THANK YOU FOR GRACING US WITH THIS MASTERPEICE

Nightmares will not stay -Klance 101 K 110 L  
Glowing blue and red lights danced in the observation room, representing the inhabitants of the universe,  
free and captured. Free and captured. Excatly how he felt, staring at the projected universe in the middle  
of space. He was free, but only because a giant blue lion had captured him and taken him to a faraway  
world beyond Earth. He could leave, but leaving meant the capture of Earth sooner or later. His mind  
was free to explore whole galaxies he had never fanthomed, but captured by the horrors they held and  
homesickness.  
The airlock.  
He couldn't stand them anymore. Not after almost getting sucked out of one. Not after almost being  
thrown into space without a helmet. Not after the nightmares that plauged his dreams after almost dying.  
Lance sighed, watching the Alten word for Earth 'Earth ' burn in the air, a silk spun orb with spirals. He  
missed his family. Being at the Garrison was difficult enough, but at least they could video chat and text.  
Out in space? There wasn't a chance. He could very possibly never see his famila again, but he was  
hoping that would never become reality. He hoped.  
It was past midnight in the castle, and Lance was pretty sure he was the only one awake. The halls were  
empty of voices, void of lights, and he could only wander them so long before he got sick of it. So here  
he was, a boy from Cuba, curled up in front of the observation deck, staring at lights that were  
supposedly planets and aliens, wishing the nightmares away.  
He wished a lot of things these days.  
The nightmares were starting to creep back in from the coners of his mind in the quiet, slipping past the  
wishes, until footsteps chased them away in the darkness. Lance looked up in suprise at Keith, who sat  
down next to him without a word, folding up next to him. His black t-shirt and sweatpants were hidden in  
a fuzzy red blanket he had gotten at the Space Mall, and it brushed gently against Lance's bare arms.  
His bedhead stuck up in the back, the usually messy locks in complete chaos at his neck. Deep violet  
eyes stared back at his, tired and soft. A silent yawn opened his lips.  
"Keith? What are you doing up?" Lance streched his legs out, leaning back on his hands nonchalantly.  
This way, Keith had to look to the side to make eye contact, but Lance could watch him. No one had  
caught him awake any of the past few nights, so Keith suddenly strolling into the observation deck where  
he was was odd. Not bad. Just odd. "I could ask you the same thing." Keith yawned again and Lance  
shot him a quizical look before he caved " I couldn't sleep." "Welcome to the club," Lance laughed,  
shifting his weight. There was a pause, then "Why couldn't you sleep?"  
"Ever since the training bot attacked us" he starts, watching Lance's face as if he'd laugh at him. "I've  
had this feeling." He shrugs, gesturing with his hands " I get kind of jumpy. I think there's something I  
can't see waiting to come at me. I'm not afraid, per say, and I don't get nightmares... I just" he lists off  
helplessly, looking away. "You're anxious." Lance supplies, sitting up to look Keith better in the eye. He  
doesn't shy away. "You feel like there's something behind you, something at your back, something you  
can't see when it comes for you. You're all alone with it, there's nothing but you and it. No one to call out  
false alarms. You just want to get it over with, instead of being held in suspense. Yeah," Lance falls back  
on his hands, turning his head up to see the stars in the air above him. "I get the feeling."  
They sit in silence after that. He can feel Keith's eyes on him, considering, observing. He breathes  
deeply through his nose, noticing how the planets above him are divided in two colors like a border. One  
side captured, red. One side free, milky blue. Keith tugs on his hand and Lance looks to the side at him.  
His purple eyes shine in the darkness. "Come with me." He's gathering the red blanket up, starting to  
stand with Lance's hand in his. Lance scrambles up quickly, following him through the too quiet halls,  
past his own room, and to Keith's.  
Keith pulls him in wordlessly, flicking the lights on before sitting on the bed. Lance is left standing  
awkwardly in the middle of the room, rocking on his bare feet. "Keith?" He's too tired to joke. Keith pulls  
the lump of blanket to his chest, crosses his arms over it, and speaks into it. "You said you get the feeling  
something is at your back, so you can't see it." Pale forearms squeeze the blanket tighter. He wiggles his  
toes from where he's straddling it. " I was thinking...If we sleep back to back...it'd be like protecting each  
other...." He shoves his face into the blanket so Lance can't see his face. This was a bad idea, he thinks,  
holding back a dying moan. Lance'll think he's weird, hate him, they'll go back to fighting every day, and  
the team won't be able to form Voltron because Lance'll think he's weird! He wants to scream.

Footsteps padding away from him almost make him scream and say he was kidding, (that wouldn't fool  
Lance and Keith knew it. When did Keith kid?) but the sound of the light switch flicking off stops him. He  
freezes, until the mattress is sinking with the weight of another person. He doesn't move. "So, Keith, "  
Lance says, voice playful "Are you gonna share that blanket?"  
Keith smiles into the blanket before springing his arms open and tackling Lance. "Here ya go!" He  
teases, aggressively rubbing the fuzzy softness in Lance's spluttering face. It's fun, having the upper  
hand on Lance. And he doesn't feel so anxious about sleeping anymore. "Ack!" Keith laughs, then drops  
to the side, letting Lance breathe. " Quiznack, Keith," He's breathless, and Keith doesn't miss the way his  
stomach knots at it. The blanket is spread haphazardly across both of them, Lance's calfs and feet  
poking out at the edge. Keith frowns at that.  
He sits up quickly, unfolding the wrinkled blanket, pulling it tight across them. Lance shifts in response,  
laying out on his back. Keith doesn't make a comment, instead sliding down next to him. They both  
manage to fit on the pillow, Keith turning sideways, his chin level with Lance's shoulder and facing his  
neck and the side of his face. Lance reaches out and grips his hand. "Thank you, Keith." Then his hold  
loosens and his hand drops, and his ocean blue eyes close.  
Keith falls asleep pretty fast after that.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
When he wakes up, his bed is warmer than usual. His pillow is warm too, smooth and pliable. Keith sighs  
into it, burying his face in it. He hasn't slept this well in ages, so he's going to savor the sleepiness  
coating him like warm sryup. It's undeniably quiet, nothing but the soft sound of his breathing. No training  
drills, no alarms blaring in emergency, nothing but the feeling of being hugged and his legs tangled up  
with someone else's.  
Wait.  
What?  
Keith opens his eyes to an expanse of tan neck and shoulder, gentle breathing lulled above him. He  
blinks, wondering what's happening for a second, before remembering last night. A funny smile tickles  
his lips at the memory. He peers down, realizing Lance had wrapped him up in his arms at some point,  
and their legs were a twisted mess. A comfortable mess, but one Keith wasn't getting out of anytime  
soon. Belatedly, he notices that one of his arms is pinned under Lance's, the other pressed flat to his  
chest. His heartbeat isn't directly under his hand, but it's near by, and Keith can feel it pulsing.  
It's strangly reassuring, calming even, to feel Lance's heartbeat under his fingertips. Lance was the one  
trapped in the airlock, the one he dragged out. It make sense that seeing he's okay would calm Keith  
down. He almost died. Again. But he didn't, and that's what matters. He's alive. And he could relate to  
the castle attacking both of them directly. Keith wasn't the only one feeling this way, and for once, what  
he was feeling didn't scare him. It frusturated him, sure, but didn't scare him.  
Lance mumbles in his sleep above him, shifting restlessly. Keith's hand automatically started stroking his  
back, and Lance relaxed at the touch, settling down against Keith. Sleepily, the hand thrown across Keith  
rubs circles into his back in response. Keith inwardly keens at the touch, watching Lance's eyes slowly  
open. He was close to nosing Keith's rumpled black hair, but he didn't seem to care, instead looking  
down at Keith. His deep blue eyes where blissed out, contently curled up with Keith. He smiles tiredly,  
and Keith smiles back before snuggling closer with a sigh.  
"Hey." Lance tries, voice raspy and thick with sleep. Keith "mmhhmm"'s in response, closing his eyes.  
"Keith, we have to get up. Keith." Lance pats his back once before pulling away. Keith cries out, not liking  
the fact Lance is taking all his warmth with him, and Lance laughs. Twisting his lips in a frown, he looks  
up at Lance sitting on his bed, the strap of his tank top sliding down on his shoulder. The corners of  
Lance's mouth flick into another smile. "Hey, Grouchy McGrouchy Mullet, get up." There's a hand  
shoving his side. Keith bats it away with a glare. Lance laughs again.  
"Sorry about cuddling up on you like some rare kind of tickle monster." Lance says, and that wakes Keith  
up. He kinda liked the cuddling. He blinks up at Lance, who's turned a bit more serious. "I'm used to  
sleeping with my siblings. It was normal to wake up in a massive heap." Oh. His face turns pink. "Nah"  
he waves a hand "it was kind of nice." Lance perks up at that, despite how awkwardly he stumbled  
through it. "You didn't feel so anxious sleeping next to another person?" He clarifies, still beaming. Keith  
blushes a little harder at that, but he doesn't think Lance notices. When he puts it that way, it sounds like  
Keith was six, not sixteen. "I guess," he admits, propping himself up. " I think the fact someone was

there, even if they were alseep calmed me down enough to sleep. So thank you?"  
"You're welcome." Lance chirps, sliding off the bed and making for the door. "I'm gonna go get ready.  
See you at breakfast!"  
He's out the door faster than Keith can reply, a sliding noise replacing his voice.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
It becomes normal.  
Every night, Lance slips into Keith's room. The others are already asleep by the time Lance is opening  
his door. And Keith always waits up for him, never sleeping by himself. His sheets start to smell like  
Lance, like angel blossoms. He wonders what he smells like to Lance, but he never asks. Keith knows  
what he's been feeling for Lance isn't excatly put in the 'friendly' category, but he's been feeling that way  
before Lance started sleeping next to him. Before they started protecting each other in their sleep.  
Sometimes, they sleep back to back. Those are the nights Lance is restless and Keith is too tired to keep  
a cap on his anxiousness. "There's nothing there?" he'd ask. "There's nothing there." Lance'd say.  
"We're protecting each other?" he'd say. "When are we not?" Lance'd ask. Those were the nights after  
tough battles, failed missions, or someone landing in the healing pods.  
Most of the time though, they curled up together, and Keith couldn't deny the fact that he'd never slept  
better.  
Except for tonight.  
They'd been asleep, and for once, Keith wasn't in the crook of Lance's neck when he woke up. There  
were choking sounds, and sharp, little breathes. The body next to him was shaking almost undectably,  
but larger, deeper ones would wrack Lance's chest and Keith could feel those easily. Keith almost  
materalized his bayard and jumped up to kill whatever was strangling Lance, but when he looked up  
beside him, there were no mosters. Unless you counted Lance's tears (Keith did).  
"Lance?"  
He looks down from the ceiling, the hand over his mouth lined and dripping with near silent tears.  
Another tremor wracks his body, then he's diving into Keith's chest, a soft "oof." escaping Keith in  
suprise. Lance buries his head in his chest, and throws his arms around him, sobbing softly. Little  
hiccups break up his crying.  
Keith is a little confused, but a whole lot concerened for him. He lowers his hands from where they're  
frozen over Lance's back, gently stroking up and down his bony spine. That's the thing about Lance. He's  
gangly, and tall, and either bony limbs or smooth, lean muscle. "Lance? What's wrong?" He tries, and the  
gasping noises come back, like he's trying to hold it back enough to talk. "Airlock," he manages to get  
out. " I-I get n-nightm-mares. It-t's stup-pid."  
"It's not stupid." He denies immediately. "You've seen Shiro freeze up with fear before. He probably gets  
nightmares too, and he's twenty-four. It's not stupid. You almost died." "Again," he wants to add, but  
doesn't in favor of rubbing Lance's back and hugging him tighter. Keith's not sure how great he is at this  
comfort thing, but he knows touch and reassurance generally help. "Shiro - PTSD - he's- vaild reason -"

Lance stumbles out, the beggining of multiple sentences, before picking a new one " Somet-times, I'm t-  
he one in the a-airlo-ock. Othe-er times, I-I'm fighting the bot," he lifts his head up to face Keith. His

beautiful sea blue eyes are filled with salty drops, but those aren't the kind that belong in the ocean. His  
face screws up at whatever he's going to say next, and he shoves his head back into Keith with  
suffocating sobs.  
He's not sure how he didn't think of it earlier but Keith realizes just how shook up Lance is by the castle  
attacking them. Sure, Sendak hacked it, but this was the place where they lived now. Thinking about it  
happening again (though Allura assured them it wouldn't) must have been horrifying. Yeah, the castle  
attacked him too, but it didn't try to kill him by throwing him into the depths of space. But he could relate.  
"It doesn't matter who is in the airlock" Lance chokes "they n-neve-er co-ome out." Keith's heart sinks like  
a rock, but it nearly smashes to the floor when Lance attempts to stop crying and pull away.  
He usually respects personal space, but in the past few weeks he isn't sure if they even have that  
between them anymore, so he pulls him closer and says "You don't have to hide from me. Never from  
me." Lance full out shatters at that, crying into Keith's shirt (it's soaked in seconds) and Keith just rocks

him, holds him, tells him he's safe, he's okay, no one is dead, he doesn't have to hide how he feels, it's  
okay to cry and be upset. He isn't sure how long it's been exactly, but when Lance breathes out like he's  
exhausted, Keith realizes both of them are.  
"Ya know, " Lance says shakily, attempting to make his voice lighthearted "You lash out when you get  
emotional. I act in, but..." he trails off, peering up at Keith. He's pulled across Keith's stomache, their legs  
sewn together, caging each other with their arms, and Keith decides he likes the feeling off Lance lying  
on top of him. "You don't have to be scared of what you feel. I'm right here, I won't go anywhere."  
Yep. That does it. Keith is impulsive for a reason, but he doesn't care about that when he surges forward  
and kisses Lance. He pulls his hands back, leaving the kiss open. It's a request, not a demand, and  
Lance is free to respond or pull away.  
And God, does he respond. Grabbing Keith's face, he moves and angles their mouths so his bottom lip is  
between Keith's. The kiss started out tender and slow, a simple press of lips on lips, but Lance pushes  
his mouth to his, it's a little faster, a little hotter, but just as nice. Lance smells like angel blossoms, like  
sugar and candy. His lips are tinged with salt from where tears had traced them in the dark, but Keith  
couldn't be bothered by it even if he wanted to when Lance pressed and deepened the kiss.  
He's got one hand put in Lance's hair, the other pulled across his back, gripping his shoulder like he can't  
let go. One of Lance's knees is wedged between Keith's legs, the other resting on the outside of his left.  
Lance slinks a hand in his hair, lightly scratching his scalp. Keith hums happily into the kiss at that. He's  
never kissed anyone before, but they haven't clacked teeth or bumped noses just yet, so Keith is pretty  
sure they're doing just fine. Besides, the warm, wet feeling of Lance's mouth on his is pretty addictive,  
and he chases it.  
Shyly, Keith feels a tongue run against the seam of his lips, Lance shifting so their mouths are level, and  
he opens his mouth. Eagerly, Lance dives his tongue in Keith's mouth, licking and prodding. Keith moans  
at that, it's ridiculously hot. Lance feels like pilable fire under his hands, and he presses closer, wanting  
there to be absolutely no space between them. His own tongue rises to the challenge when Lance tastes  
it, wrestling with Lance's for dominace. Carefully, he bites Lance's lip, trying not to bite their tongues. A  
low groan rewards him.  
They kiss until oxygen becomes vital again, pulling away to gulp in air. Lance's hair is mussed up, his lips  
are red and shiny wet, one slightly puffy were Keith bit it. He's grinning manically above Keith in the  
darkness, and he feels himself recuperate before the taste of caramel is flooding his mouth again. This  
kiss is firey and passionate, soft moans and whimpers escaping both of them. After a particularly loud  
one from Lance, he pulls away, panting.  
"If we kiss anymore, we're going to be doing it the rest of the night."  
Keith's mind is still in warm bliss, but he understands what Lance is saying and nods. Making out sounds  
amazing, but being zombies during training does not. He pulls Lance back down into his chest. Lance  
laughs "Looks like we're having another bonding moment with me in your arms." "Yeah," he mouthes at  
Lance's ear. "You better not forget this one." He growls. "I won't." Lance says, closing his eyes.  
Keith smiles before laying down to sleep.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Something's wrong.  
Keith can feel it in his sleep, a finger poking his consciousness, a little flashing red light on the control  
panel spelling "D-O-O-M".  
He springs awake, his sword already in hand, screaming a battle cry, crashing over Lance to shield him.  
He knew there was a reason he was being paranoid! There actually was something waiting to attack  
them! Now, he had to protect Lance!  
It was the mice.  
They stared at him from the floor with big eyes, little paws held in surrender at the sword lunged at them.  
The larger yellow one was frozen, halfway between the sword and the others. Keith blinked.  
Oh.

"Keith?" Lance mumbled, pulling on him, half asleep. "Keith, come back to bed." His bayard is gone now,  
and the mice are trying to creep out of the room. He watches them make their way to the door, putting a  
finger to his lips in a "Keep quiet" gesture. The mice make eye contact and nod, and scurry off in the dark  
hallway. He isn't sure if they're going to tell Allura, but he knows Lance will wake up soon if he doesn't  
curl back up with him, so he cuddles back up to his boyfriend with a tired sigh.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Keith isn't sure how long they've been dating when the others find out.  
It's the day after a particulary gruelling battle and even more gruelling diplomacy meeting with a new  
planet (the thing was practically a rainforest shot up a thousand degrees with rain once a week. Lance  
was dissapointed they had missed the rain by a day. The planet had tried to kill them every three  
seconds, so Keith was glad to have put that off for as long as possible.) and no one got up before noon.  
Even Pidge slept in her bed (though Lance slept in Keith's).  
The dining room was full of half-dead paladins and alteans in various pajamas when Keith shuffled in,  
wearing one of Lance's non-descript, gray shirts and fuzzy fannel pants. He blearily took in Allura and  
Pidge leaning on either side of Shiro on a couch someone had dragged in, Pidge much more asleep,  
Allura much more awake. A few couches and love seats were scattered around the room, and Hunk was  
nearly passed out on one. Only Coran seemed to prefer the regular dining chair, though he was folded  
up in it.  
His brain regeistered "cuddle time" when he saw Lance working the space goo tubes, and he slowly  
padded over to his boyfriend. "Mmm." he grumbled, sticking his face in the crook of Lance's neck, linking  
his arms around to hug him sideways. Keith liked sideways hugs, he decided, murmuring nonsense into  
Lance's neck. The floor was cold under his bare feet, but Lance was warm, though he claimed Keith was  
a space heater. Wordlessly, Lance put down his bowl, stuck a spoon in it, and started to fill another.  
Keith preened at that.  
When it was full, he stuck another spoon in it, then made to turn around. Keith groaned, mumbling  
syllables in protest. Lance sighed, then started to walk anyway, half dragging a sleepy Keith at his side.  
He waded halfway across the room before saying "Keith, babe, you've got to help me here." Both of his  
hands were balancing bowls of food goo, and he looked down tiredly at Keith. He sighed, but picked up  
his feet.  
They collaspsed in a chair, not at all caring that they were both half falling out of it. Keith melted against  
his boyfriend's side, ignoring his food in favor of lazily staring blankly at everything. When a spoon was  
put near his mouth, he opened his mouth and swallowed, noting Lance was feeding himself with his left  
hand and Keith with his dominant.  
It was a low whistle from Shiro that woke him up. He turned to look at him, blinking away the fog in his  
brain, nearly jumping out of his chair at the stares bomboarding him. "What?!" Pidge's jaw was dropped,  
her eyebrows raised. Hunk was smiling strangely, and Shiro had his Dad Face

TM on. Allura was beaming  
mischeviously, and Coran had raised an eyebrow. "You're dating." Pidge admonished. Keith looked  
back at Lance, a blush eating his face, watching him slowly make a face at Pidge, before what she said  
and where they were registered.  
Lance blushed madly.  
Keith thought it was adorable.  
"Yeah." he coughed. "We're dating. In space. Space dating." He shoved a spoonful of goo in his mouth  
to avoid having to talk. Leaving Keith to the wolves.  
"Shiro, Keith's the cuddly one, you owe me five bucks!" Hunk screamed, pointing at Shiro from his couch.  
Shiro sighed, but leaned over and slid him a five. Keith glared. "Hey," Shiro said, throwing up his hands  
in mock surrender " I've know you longer than Lance. I figured Lance would be the touchy one, but I've  
never seen you in a relationship. I'm happy for you, though. " Coran and Allura look like giddy little kids,  
Coran's face split by his grin, and Allura's practically vibrating. "Coran! They're courting!" She waves her  
arms. "Courting!" "I know, I know, I know!" He chants, staring at Keith. Then they go off about Altean  
courting rituals, and he's lost within the first sentence. "How long?" Pidge asks, adjusting her glasses.  
Keith's mind blanks. "Three weeks." Lance saves him, self consciously pulling Keith closer. Allura  
squeals, and Lance flinches. He fingers Lance's hand reassuringly. Allura doesn't squeal at that, but she  
does almost launch out of her seat. "So are we going to train today, or....?" Lance directs at Shiro, trying

to change the subject. Keith hurridely starts shoving food in his mouth at the word "train". He knows how  
important fuel is for exercise, he's not going to sleep through breakfast if he's going to run a mile  
aftewards. He's just managed to finish when Shiro says "No, we're all going to rest up. Tommorow we  
will, but for now, we don't want to strain ourselves if we don't have to."  
Lance scrapes up the last of his meal before grabbing both of their bowls and pulling Keith out of the  
chair with him. "Okay, we're just gonna go..." he puts up the dirty dishes and hurries out of the dining  
room, Keith trailing behind him. They catch Allura's excited scream, and Lance full out sprints at that,  
dragging him through the halls and to his room. They crash on the bed, still in pyjamas, and knot  
themselves together.  
"They know, they know, they know," Lance rambles, gripping his hand. "'You okay?" He looks a little  
jittery. "Yeah, yeah, just a little ehhhhh!" Lance replies, rolling away from Keith flop his hands around.  
Keith laughs at his boyfriend. "Hey" Lance is suddenly in his face, crawling over Keith. "You know what  
this means? PDA!" He beams giddily, wiggling in excitment. He shakes the bed and Keith can't help but  
crack up, he's being too adorable. "Yay." He says, and giggles hysterically when Lance dives and blows  
raspberries against his neck  
He regrets his little "Yay." when Lance slaps his butt during training the next day, yelling "Get it!"


End file.
